Newcomer
by Li2CO3
Summary: A newcomer is turning not only Bella's life upside-down. How will she and the people close to her handle this? Set post-Eclipse.


**ALL THOSE GREAT CHARACTERS, EXCEPT FOR LEE, BELONG TO THE EVEN MORE AWESOME STEPHENIE MEYER. PWNED!**

**LPOV**

So this was Forks. I looked up at the cloudy sky and sighed. I was used to the perpetual sun in Redding, California, and wondered why on EARTH somebody would want to live in a gloomy town like Forks. I mean, haven't those people realized that the borders are open?! I had only spent ten minutes in this town and was sick of it already. But I was on a mission. I sighed once more and checked myself in the mirror: again, I was shocked how much I looked like my Mom. I had her silky black hair, her bright blue eyes that sometimes, depending on my mood, change their color into green (how freaky is that?!), and her androgynous figure. She never talked about my dad - no, wait, make that "my genitor", she never showed me any pictures, she just once mumbled something about me being "the result of a fling, but I never thought that I'd give birth to something this wonderful and obnoxious like you, Lee" - and after continuous fights and various inner struggles I decided that I wanted to meet him. My dad, who most likely has no idea I even exist, who lives in the rainiest place in the United States, and who would without a doubt be shocked when, no if, I ever gathered enough courage to get out of my car and knock on that door. I took a deep breath and opened my car door. What if nobody was home? What if he had finally realized that the eternal cloudiness of Forks could make you depressed, and done the only right thing, which is move to someplace else in the country? Come on Lee, I scolded myself, just get it over with. I got up and out of the safety of my car; from now on I honestly didn't know what to expect. Slowly I walked up the driveway, reached the door, held my hand up, ready to knock, and stopped. What was I doing? Maybe he had a wife and children and I was turning his life upside-down by just showing up. But somehow I also hoped that I would find a different kind of family here. Sure, I didn't know that guy, but I never had anything close to a father figure, and maybe I would end up liking my dad. I had to do this, I needed closure. I wanted to meet him, but why was I feeling so insecure? Oh what the hell. I knocked, louder than I wanted to. Waiting for somebody to open, I held my breath. I could hear somebody walking towards the door. Finally it opened. A girl who seemed to be about my age was standing there. Her brown hair looked a little bit messy, maybe she had just gotten up. She was looking at me, unable to hide her curiosity.

"Umm... Hi. Can I help you?", she asked in a friendly, but cautious manner.

I was just opening my mouth when I saw him. He was standing behind her, half hidden in the shadows, and looked like a model, a god, something too beautiful to exist. I could have died for such beauty. His hair looked just as messy as hers, but in a good way. He was drop-dead gorgeous. I wanted him.

"Oh...", I stuttered when I finally figured out how to use my voice again, "I'm looking for Charles Swan. Does he live here?"

The girl smiled and replied, "You're looking for my dad? He's at work, why don't you come in?"

I just looked right past her at the glorious creature. His eyes seemed golden, and he looked like he was concentrating very hard. I wanted to know what he was thinking about when the girl interrupted my thoughts.

"I'm Bella, and this is Edward. We were just going to have supper, would you like to join us... What was your name again?"

I turned back to her and I think I must have looked like I was out of it. I thought for a couple seconds about what she had wanted to know and replied, "Sure, I'd love to. I don't think I've introduced myself, I'm Lee Cooper. Nice to meet you, Bella. Edward."

I blushed when I realized that my voice had turned into this really high, annoying squeak when I said his name. I followed the two of them into the house and right to the kitchen, where the delicious smell of lasagna made me realize how hungry I actually was. The girl, Bella, asked me a few questions, basically smalltalk. Eventually she looked at Edward, who was just sitting there silently in all his beauty, took a breath and said, "So, Lee? You don't seem to be a runaway or something. With Charlie being a police officer I know that hardly any runaways drive BMWs, so can I ask you what you need from Charlie? It's just... I'm curious. I wonder why you didn't go to the station right away. Or isn't this about a problem that needs the police to be involved?"

I cocked my head and thought about it for a minute. I was just going to answer when Edward suddenly looked up and said something to Bella in the softest voice you could ever imagine. She excused them and they left the kitchen.

**BPOV**

I didn't know why I had asked her to come in. I guess she reminded me of myself, standing there like a wide-eyed kid, obviously disliking Forks, looking for Charlie, but not really wanting to be here. I had sensed that her life was complicated, that she seemed to be looking for something, or somebody - in this case Charlie, God knows why. Maybe she was the daughter of one of Charlie's friends or a distant relative looking for help. I couldn't just leave her standing outside. I tried to explain this to Edward in the family room as he was pinching the bridge of his nose and looked seriously mad, but he just put his icy finger on my lips. He was thinking and I wished I knew what he was pondering.

After a while he opened his eyes and stated flatly, "I can't hear her thoughts, and that got me worried. She's up to something, she's bad news, Bella. We need to get her out of here. Do you think that you could make Charlie come home early? If she talks to him and gets whatever she wants or needs she might leave."

I stared at Edward in disbelief. I tried to think clearly, but it didn't really work. His finger touching my lips sent little shocks through my whole body, and probably he realized that, so he took his hand away and crossed his arms, waiting for my response.

"But... why? How come you can't hear her thoughts? How can you think she's plotting something?"

Edward had obviously known that I'd ask him that, so he quickly said, "She's so strange. Usually humans shy away from my kind although they may be attracted to our looks, but she keeps leaning in and tries to get closer to me, not feeling the danger. Then I can't hear her thoughts, and I don't know why... It's different from not hearing yours, I can't hear yours at all, but it's like she has a wall, some kind of defense on her mind. I can faintly hear her inner voice, but nothing clear and definite, no matter how hard I try. Besides, she smells funny."

He wrinkled his nose, which made me laugh.

"Edward, you can't be serious. She's just a kid, maybe 15 or 16. She can't have anything bad on her mind."

"Jacob Black is 16..." Edward looked down. He must have realized how mentioning Jake sent little stabs through my heart, how it skipped a beat, how I couldn't hide the tears in my eyes. I missed him. He had just disappeared, and I didn't know why exactly. Maybe he didn't want to be around when I got married to Edward, maybe he had decided to give up, maybe he just couldn't take it anymore. I was worried. I loved Edward, and that would never ever change, but I loved Jake, too. I didn't want to cause him any pain, and I hated myself for doing it. But it was the only thing I could do. I knew I couldn't be happy with Edward gone - after all he was the love of my life, no, my existance. I had already lost Edward once, and I was absolutely positive that I couldn't be without him. Yet seeing Jake suffering, hoping, and wasting his time and love on me, hurt me physically and emotionally. But I had to be strong for Edward.

"We should just wait for Charlie, he should be home in an hour. She won't stay, I'm sure about that. She said she's from California, why would she want to be in Forks? It's probably an emergency, she might be a distant relative of Charlie's, so calm down, Edward. She's not dangerous."

"Bella." He sounded like he was trying to explain to a three-year-old why he shouldn't play with knives. "I'm doing this for your own good. I want to keep you safe, I need to protect you, I don't want you to be in danger... And little innocent Lee in the kitchen is definitely a threat. We don't know anything about her. I agree that physically she can't do any harm to you, but there's something about her... She makes me feel uneasy. I'm begging you, can you please, please, please call Charlie and tell him to come home?"

Edward looked at me dazzlingly, pleading. I couldn't say no. But he was being ridiculuosly overprotective. I had to stand my ground just this once. Lee was safe as kittens.My own feet posed a greater danger to my life than she possibly ever could.

"Listen, Edward... I know that you're concerned and worried, but she just wants to talk to Charlie. We'll be fine. How dangerous can she be to a vampire?"

He thought about this for a second, and then gave in.

"Fine. Let's wait for Charlie. But we should get back to the kitchen and make sure she's not left alone, planning something destructive."

Yes! For once, I won. And I knew that I was right about Lee. She seemed to be a nice girl, maybe a little bit shallow - she kept looking at her reflection in the mirror we had in the kitchen, constantly played with her perfectly cut hair, and checked out her manicure multiple times - but honest and open. Now I just wanted to know why she needed to talk to Charlie.

**LPOV**

I was lost in thought when I noticed that Bella and Edward were sitting down at the table again. Bella looked at me expectantly, Edward looked confused and annoyed, but, if possible, even more like the synonym for perfection than before. I wondered if they were dating; only then it crossed my mind that Bella was my half sister. How cool was that?! I had a half sister! And not just some random person who I shared a few of my genes with, but actually somebody who didn't know me but was nice to me nevertheless. I was sort of an outcast in Redding. I only had one friend, Scott, who was soooo gay, it's not even funny. We went and got matching manicures a few days ago and discussed the guys in our school. Just thinking about Scott made me feel a little homesick.

"Well, Lee, Charlie will be home in an hour, but maybe Edward and I could help you. What is it that you need to discuss with my dad?"

Edward looked at Bella quickly, a slightly panicked look on his face. How did she handle being around somebody this stunning?

"Umm..." I didn't really know what to say. I mean, it wasn't like I hadn't thought about what to say and how to say it. But this was different. I liked Bella, my SISTER, and I couldn't estimate how she would react. Would she be shocked? Probably. Would she be mad at Charlie? She might. Would she ask me why I had come here? Definitely. Would she question my motivation for being here? I didn't know.

"You don't have to be scared, Lee, we won't do anything to you. We don't bite, you know." Oh my gosh, did Edward just talk to me? I looked up from my nails. He was smiling a little bit, but not looking at me.

"Actually, Bella... I don't know how to say this, so I'll just get it over with, okay? I'm Charlie's daughter, too."

The oven beeped just as I had finished saying this. The lasagna was done.


End file.
